Search Results for: "stem cells"

PubPeer Selections: Boosting memory in Science, extending lifespan in Nature, quantum anesthesia in PNAS

As Retraction Watch readers probably know, we’re big fans of PubPeer, the post-publication peer review site that allows comments on papers. Discussions there have led to a number of corrections and retractions, and even more importantly, authors are starting to respond to clarify results, acknowledge errors, or otherwise advance knowledge. After all, as we often … Continue reading PubPeer Selections: Boosting memory in Science, extending lifespan in Nature, quantum anesthesia in PNAS

Australian university to repay $275K grant because of “misleading and incorrect” information

Courtesy of The Australian, we have an update on a story we first covered in late 2012. As we reported then: A contested retraction in Stem Cells and Development has left the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) graduate student who fought for it in limbo, uncertain if he will earn his PhD. And many of … Continue reading Australian university to repay $275K grant because of “misleading and incorrect” information

STAP stem cell co-author commits suicide: Reports

In a stunning and tragic development, a co-author of the now-retracted Nature papers claiming to have found an easy way to create stem cells has committed suicide, according to news reports in Japan. According to the Japan Times, RIKEN deputy director Yoshiki Sasai has died:

Another Nature stem cell paper is retracted

Another stem cell paper has been retracted from Nature, this one a highly cited 2008 study that had already been the subject of what the journal’s news section called a “furore” in 2010. According to that 2010 news story: The researchers behind the original work1, led by Thomas Skutella of the University of Tübingen, reported … Continue reading Another Nature stem cell paper is retracted

Authors retract paper “confirming” that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease

A group of researchers at Stanford and elsewhere is retracting a 2013 paper that another scientist told Nature was “one of the biggest things to happen in the narcolepsy field for some time.” The Science Translational Medicine paper caused a buzz because it claimed to show that narcolepsy was an autoimmune disease. Here’s the notice:

Weekend reads: How to fix “slow,” “unhelpful,” and “generally awful” peer review, where all the PhDs go

Another busy week at Retraction Watch, but there was lots happening elsewhere, too:

If only more retractions could be like this: Authors of cardiac stem cell paper show the way

Researchers at Qingdao University have fully retracted a paper originally published in Molecular Medicine Reports with a clear, detailed outline of what went wrong and how they discovered the error. Here’s the notice for “Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells using skin fibroblasts from patients with myocardial infarction under feeder-free conditions:”

STAP stem cell papers officially retracted as Nature argues peer review couldn’t have detected fatal problems

A significant chapter of the nearly six-month saga of the STAP stem cell controversy has come to an end, with Nature running retraction notices for the two papers involved. The journal has also published an editorial about the case that’s worth a read. The retractions for “Bidirectional developmental potential in reprogrammed cells with acquired pluripotency” … Continue reading STAP stem cell papers officially retracted as Nature argues peer review couldn’t have detected fatal problems

RIKEN inquiry prompted by STAP stem cell controversy generates three corrections

A review of past publications by the Japanese research institution RIKEN has produced three corrections of articles by a molecular geneticist, Haruhiko Koseki, The Scientist is reporting. The articles had appeared in Molecular and Cellular Biology between 2005 and 2010. The review was triggered by the scandal involving Haruko Obokata, a former RIKEN scientist whose … Continue reading RIKEN inquiry prompted by STAP stem cell controversy generates three corrections

Obokata agrees to retract both STAP stem cell papers: Report

Last month we wrote that Haruko Obokata, the Japanese stem cell researcher whose work is under a cloud of suspicion, had agreed to call for the retraction of one of two disputed Nature papers about her findings. Now Reuters is reporting that Obokata will ask for the second article to be pulled, as well (one … Continue reading Obokata agrees to retract both STAP stem cell papers: Report